Flying cutoff machine with orbital ram



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United States Patent 3,288,012 FLYING CUTOFF MACHINE WITH ORBITAL RAM Alexander Borzym, 6841 Oakman Blvd, Dearhom, Mich. Filed June 30, 1965. Ser. No. 468,241 1 Claim. (Cl. 83-310) The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for cutting elongated stock such as metal of tubular or other cross-sectional configuration and is particularly adapted to relatively high production cutoff of heavyduty metal tubing emanating from a tube mill, although its usefulness is not confined to this specific type of work.

An important object of the invention is to provide a flying cutoff apparatus which is capable of rapidly severing heavy materials, and materials of variant thicknesses, and wherein the apparatus employs an improved ram and carriage assembly capable of relatively high speed operation and of simplified and relatively inexpensive construction.

Another object is the provision of a flying cutoff apparatus of the above character employing an improved and simplified ram mounting and drive assembly.

Further objects include an improved flying cutoff apparatus which is relatively easy to manufacture, rugged in construction and reliable in use.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon consideration of the following description and claim taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view partly broken away of a cutoff machine incorporating my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view looking as from the right side of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional lan view taken substantially along the line III-HI of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary elevational sectional view taken along the line IVIV of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direct-ion of the arrows;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary plan sectional view taken along the line V-V of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary elevational sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIGURE 5 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings, the machine of my present invention has a cutoff blade supported by a carriage movable with the axial travel of the tubing being severed. A rapidly moving ram orbits through a vertical plane and is interconnected with the blade so as to permit blade and carriage movement with axial tubing travel and causes the blade to reciprocate relatively to the carriage and transversely of the direction of tube movement to sever the tube. The drive linkage for the ram is constructed in a manner to permit relatively high speed operation in the cutoff of relatively heavy duty tubing.

While the machine construction and actuating mechanism may be varied in detailed structural features, a preferred form illustrated comprises essentially a frame 11 having a bed portion 13 land a head portion 15 spaced above the bed. A ram 17 is suspended from the head portion 15 by the crank throws 19, 20 of a pair of spaced identical parallel crankshafts 23, 24 having crankpins 21, 22, which project rotatably into and through bearings formed directly in the ram; The crankshafts 23, 24 are rotatably supported in the head portion 15 by spaced main bearings 25, 26 and their intermediate crank throws 19, 20 support and actuate the ram. Drive means, comprising an electric motor 27 is connected to a drive shaft 28 by belts 29 and pulleys 31, 33. The drive shaft 28 is supported in the frame by bearing-s 3-5, 37 and has fixed thereto a pinion 39 which drivingly engages a pair of gears 41, 43, each fixed to one of the crankshafts 23, 24 so that rotation of the drive shaft 28 by the motor 27 causes the crankshafts 23, 24 to rotate through the pinion 39 and gear 41 of 43 thereby causing the ram 17 to orbit through a path determined by the throw of the cranks.

The bed portion has a plate 45 secured thereto which supports a pair of stationary rails 47, 49. A carriage 51 is slidably supported on the rails 47, 49 which form ways on the bed plate 45 beneath the ram 17. The work which may be metal tubing as 53, is presumed to travel in an axial direction generally parallel to the rails 47, 49 from right to left of FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, and may be emanating, for example, fro-m tube-forming means of the extrusion or seam welding type. For clarity, the tubing is omitted from most of the views and is shown only in dot-dash lines in FIG. 5.

The carriage 51 supports a cutoff blade 55 for reciprocation relative to the carriage and transversely of the direction of work travel, or vertically as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Also, a pair of releasable chuck jaws 57, 59 supported on the carriage 51 are adapted to grip the tubing 53 and rigidly position it and. the carriage relative to each other during the cutting operation. The jaws are slotted, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, to slidably and unimpedingly guide the blade 55 in its reciprocatory path.

The ram 17 has a pair of spaced-apart elongated plates 61, 63 rigidly secured thereto and extending parallel to the axis of the work and forming ways for guide portions on the carriage sl-idiably over-fitted thereon and formed by horizontal guide plates 69, 70, spacer plates 71, 73, respectively, and a blade mounting plate assembly 75. The blade 55 is secured to the mounting plate assembly through a holder 77 and a pair of chuck actuating cams 79, 81 depend from the mounting plate assembly and alongside the jaws 57, 59, respectively. Therefore, as the ram 17 orbits vertically as described above, the blade 55 reciprocates vertically and the earns 79, 81 actuate the chuck jaws 57, 59 in a manner described below even as the carriage 51 travels along the rails 47, 49.

FIGS. 1, 2, 46 show the parts in the positions they occupy at the bottom of the stroke of the cam corresponding to the completion of a tube cutoff operation but be fore the parts have returned to their initial position for the next tube cutofi operation. In the initial position, the ram 17 is at the top of its stroke, the chuck jaws 57, 59 are released, the carriage 51 is toward the right as seen in FIG. 1 and the tubing 53 would be moving freely through the released jaws 57, 59. When the tubing reaches a position representing a length at which a cut is required, it initiates operation of the machine by suitable trip means. Alternatively, the machine can be turned on and operate independently to sever the work into predetermined length pieces. The trip means in the first instance and the control means in the second instance are well known in the art and form no part of this invention and are, therefore, not illustrated.

In either case, a pneumatic clutch 83 or other suitable driving means is engaged when the machine is energized and is effective to engage the .pulley 33, driven by the motor 25, with the drive shaft 27. At the same time, the trip or control means effects actuation of the carriage 51 to move it with the work. The carriage 51 may be powered by air and/ or hydraulic piston and cylinder elements, the piston being connected. to the carriage 51 by means such as, for example, a push rod (not shown). Actuating and connecting means of this type are well known in the 'art and are not illustrated here since they form no part of this invention. However, this actuating means accelerates the carriage 51 to the speed of the work in the interval before the chuck jaws 57, 59 close, and the carriage trlavels along the rails 47, 49 with the work during thecut-otf operation and is returned by the actuating means in preparation for the next cut-off cycle.

As seen perhaps best in FIG. 1, the ram 17 has a pair of upwardly facing, generally semicylindrical bearing portions 83, 84, each provided with a semicylindrical bearmg insert 85, 86, adapted to receive the crankpin 21 or 22 of the crankshaft 23 or 24. Bearing caps 87, 88 each having a bearing insert 89, 90, surround the other half of the crankpins 21, 22 and are bolted to the bottom portions 83, 84. Thus, as the crankshafts 23, 24 rotate, the ram 17 travels through a vertical plane toward and away from the bed portion 13 with all parts of the ram orbiting through a path whose radius equals the throw of the cranks. Thus the ways formed by plates 61, 63 are always parallel to themselves and to the bed ways 47, 49 and cause the blade to reciprocate relative to the carriage and transversely of the direction of work movement while allowing the carriage 51 and the blade to slide relative to the ram along the ways in the direction of work movement.

As the ram 17 moves downwardly toward the bed portion 13, it moves the blade mounting plate assembly 75 and therefore the blade 55 and thejaw actuating earns 79, 81 downwardly, these cams being guided in opposed vertical ways 91, 93 formed in a pair of carriage side plates 95, 97 respectively. Each of the earns 79, 81 has a downwardly and inwardly facing cam surface 99, 101, adapted to engage a respective upwardly and outwardly facing cam surface 103, 105 on the chuck jaws 57, 59. When the cam surfaces 99, 101 move downwardly past the cam surfaces 103, 105, the jaws 57, 59 move toward each other and into gripping engagement with the tubing 53. At the same time, the blade 55 moves downwardly and cuts through the tubing 53 secured by the jaws. When the ram 17 moves upwardly, the blade 55 is withdrawn, the cam surfaces 99, 101 move upwardly past the cam surfaces 103, 105 and the jaws 57, 59 move outwardly under the force of a compression spring 107 (FIG. 4) to release the tubing 53. Preferably, a lower extension 109, 111 of each of the cams 79, 81 remains in contact with the jaws 57, 59 when the ram 17 is in its upper position to locate the jaws in preparation for the next cutoff cycle.

It will be appreciated that only the blade 55 and its mounting require accurate vertical guiding during the cutoff operation. This is provided by the slotted jaws 57, 59 which slidably guide the blade 55, and by the vertical ways 91, 93 which guide the jaw actuating earns 79, 81 rigid with the blade mounting plate assembly 75. The relatively heavy ram which produces the tube cutting force orbits through a vertical path determined by the throw of the cranks 19, 20, and requires no vertical guides, functioning simply to transfer vertical cutting force and movement to the blade 55 through the guide plates 61, 63 and through the blade mounting plate assembly 75. The way plates 61, 63, the horizontal guide plates 69, 70 and the blade mounting plate assembly 75 provide a highly efficient and sturdy force transfer arrangement and allow sutficient freedom between the parts so as to preclude binding because of play in the carriage or ram components. Thus, relatively expensive and accurate vertical guide assemblies for the relatively large and heavy ram assembly such as have commonly been used heretofore are not required.

In the illustrated embodiment, two sets of crank assemblies are shown interconnecting the ram 17 and the head portion 15. With this construction the ram 17 travels in a continuous circular orbit and does not have to be stopped and reversed during an operating cycle. A relatively high ram speed is thus made possible and the cutting force possessed by the blade is capable of cutoff of heavy duty tubing. cessful embodiment of my invention is capable of cutting tubing of up to about 4 inches O.D. having wall thick nesses of up to about 0.25 inch and traveling at speeds up to about 300 feet per minute. However, it is to be understood that the number of crank assemblies, the size of the ram, etc., can vary, if desired, to meet differing requirements of the designer as to the speed of the tubing to be cut and the tubing size.

The blade 55, seen best in FIG. 4, is specially designed for severing relatively heavy-duty tubing. This blade comprises an elongated generally fiat body having pointed end alinged with a longitudinal central axis of the blade body and intersecting the tube longitudinal axis. The blade 55 has a first pair of upwardly sloping concave edges 115, 117 extending outwardly from the point 113. A pair of upwardly tapered edges 119, 121 extend from the outer ends of the edges 115, 117 to the blade side edge. In use, the center point 113 initially pierces the tubing wall at its top center. The concave edges 115, 117 then sever the top portion of the tubing wall progressively outwardly from the top center and are concavely shaped so as to reduce radial inwardly acting forces on the tubing wall which tends to cause tube deformation. However, since the tubing being severed here is relatively thickwalled, it is sufficiently strong to resist the radial inward forces caused by the blade edges 115, 117. The tapered edges 119, 121 sever the side wall portions of the tubing and are tapered so as to act radially outwardly on the tubing wall. The bottom portion of the tubing wall is cut by the point 113 and the edges 115, 117; however, in cutting both the side and bottom wall portions, no problem of tube deformation arises since the chuck jaws 57, 59 support the tubing against outward deformation at these locations.

By my present invention, there is provided a flying tube cutoff apparatus calculated to fulfill the objects set forth hereinabove, and while a preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described in detail hereinabove, it is to be understood that various additions, substitutions, modifications and omissions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as encomfront and patrition walls and rotatable about axes perpendicular to said walls and path, a ram hung on the cranks and extending parallel to said path and orbitally movable parallel to itself toward and from the bed ,by synchronous rotation of the cranks, tracks on the ram and bed parallel to said path, a die carriage slidable along the tracks and having work engaging parts actuatable by movement of the ram, and means carried by the head and journaled in said rear and partition walls for synchronously driving said cranks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,262,919 11/1941 Bruker 83--328 2,630,177 4/ 1953 Dellinger 83308 2,741,309 4/1956 Czarnik 83-32O X 3,129,624 4/1964 Auer 83319 X WILLIAM W. DYER, ]R., Primary Examiner.

.T. M. MEISTER, Asristant Examiner.

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